Speak is a book about an outcast. Melinda Sordino was not always an outcast though. Melinda had a group in middle school that she would spend her time with. They referred to themselves as the Plain Janes. She was also close to one particular girl named Rachel Bruin. Rachel and Melinda grew up together, they had been best friends.
The summer going into high school changed everything for Melinda. Melinda and Rachel went to a high school party that Rachel was able to get them into. Melinda experienced beer for her first time. She also experience attention from an older guy by the name of Andy. Melinda was outside by herself because she did not know anyone at the party other than Rachel. Rachel was inside socializing with new friends she had just made. Outside Melinda met Andy. Andy starting flirting with Melinda, and she was flattered. Then Andy starting kissing Melinda, Melinda thought she was going to start high school with a boyfriend. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground. She tried to make excuses to leave but Andy didn’t listen. He forced himself on her and then left her there in the yard, alone. The next thing Melinda did was call the police, but when the police officer asked her what was wrong, she couldn’t speak. People at the party saw that she had called the cops. The police came to the house and busted some of the kids for underage drinking. Rachel and Melinda left before they could get caught but Melinda was never able to speak about what happened that night.
Throughout the book Melinda deals with people taunting her then ignoring her. People knew she was the one who called the cops to the party that summer so no one wanted to speak to her. Melinda was an outcast. No one ever asked her for her reasoning behind calling the police that night.
According to rainn.org (The nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization http://www.rainn.org/statistics), 44% of sexual assault victims are under the age of 18. Every two minutes someone in the United States is sexually assaulted, and 60% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police. These numbers are horrific. Six out of ten people will not report an act of sexual assault against them. Melinda in the book Speak was one of the 60%. According to Rainn, the most common reasons given by victims for not reporting a rape is because of a “personal matter” (23%), another 16% of victims say they fear reprisal while about 6% don’t report because they believe that the police are biased. Melinda was scared and didn’t understand.
This book changed my views about students that could be in my classroom a lot. It’s important to ask questions and to know what’s going on in my students’ lives, especially when there is a drastic change in their life, like Melinda’s.
I would definitely recommend this book to others. It gives you the perspective of an outcast. Each outcast you encounter will have different reasons for becoming an outcast in their community but it’s important to be aware of the challenges your students face.
I would read this book with a middle school or high school classroom. Although I think it’s important for everyone in our society to be aware of sexual assault, this book can be very dark at times so I feel it wouldn’t be appropriate for an elementary school classroom.
Sexual assault is not discussed enough in our society. It’s important that students are aware of what sexual assault is, how to reduce their risk, how to go about reporting it and how to recover when it does happen. This is a tough area to talk about for many people, but it’s immensely important. By talking about the ways to reduce sexual assault, it could be prevented. By talking about ways of reporting sexual assault, we could increase the number of rapist behind bars. Currently, 15 out of 16 rapists will never spend a day in jail (rainn.org). By talking about sexual assault, people like Melinda in the story, will be able to find ways to get help for what they have experienced.
Speak
Speak is a book about an outcast. Melinda Sordino was not always an outcast though. Melinda had a group in middle school that she would spend her time with. They referred to themselves as the Plain Janes. She was also close to one particular girl named Rachel Bruin. Rachel and Melinda grew up together, they had been best friends.
The summer going into high school changed everything for Melinda. Melinda and Rachel went to a high school party that Rachel was able to get them into. Melinda experienced beer for her first time. She also experience attention from an older guy by the name of Andy. Melinda was outside by herself because she did not know anyone at the party other than Rachel. Rachel was inside socializing with new friends she had just made. Outside Melinda met Andy. Andy starting flirting with Melinda, and she was flattered. Then Andy starting kissing Melinda, Melinda thought she was going to start high school with a boyfriend. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground. She tried to make excuses to leave but Andy didn’t listen. He forced himself on her and then left her there in the yard, alone. The next thing Melinda did was call the police, but when the police officer asked her what was wrong, she couldn’t speak. People at the party saw that she had called the cops. The police came to the house and busted some of the kids for underage drinking. Rachel and Melinda left before they could get caught but Melinda was never able to speak about what happened that night.
Throughout the book Melinda deals with people taunting her then ignoring her. People knew she was the one who called the cops to the party that summer so no one wanted to speak to her. Melinda was an outcast. No one ever asked her for her reasoning behind calling the police that night.
According to rainn.org (The nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization http://www.rainn.org/statistics), 44% of sexual assault victims are under the age of 18. Every two minutes someone in the United States is sexually assaulted, and 60% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police. These numbers are horrific. Six out of ten people will not report an act of sexual assault against them. Melinda in the book Speak was one of the 60%. According to Rainn, the most common reasons given by victims for not reporting a rape is because of a “personal matter” (23%), another 16% of victims say they fear reprisal while about 6% don’t report because they believe that the police are biased. Melinda was scared and didn’t understand.
This book changed my views about students that could be in my classroom a lot. It’s important to ask questions and to know what’s going on in my students’ lives, especially when there is a drastic change in their life, like Melinda’s.
I would definitely recommend this book to others. It gives you the perspective of an outcast. Each outcast you encounter will have different reasons for becoming an outcast in their community but it’s important to be aware of the challenges your students face.
I would read this book with a middle school or high school classroom. Although I think it’s important for everyone in our society to be aware of sexual assault, this book can be very dark at times so I feel it wouldn’t be appropriate for an elementary school classroom.
Sexual assault is not discussed enough in our society. It’s important that students are aware of what sexual assault is, how to reduce their risk, how to go about reporting it and how to recover when it does happen. This is a tough area to talk about for many people, but it’s immensely important. By talking about the ways to reduce sexual assault, it could be prevented. By talking about ways of reporting sexual assault, we could increase the number of rapist behind bars. Currently, 15 out of 16 rapists will never spend a day in jail (rainn.org). By talking about sexual assault, people like Melinda in the story, will be able to find ways to get help for what they have experienced.